Today's local news briefsFROM: Kingston, Windham, Catskill, Beacon

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- The Junior League of Kingston will present "A Day at the Races & Night on the Town" Kentucky Derby fundraiser party on at 5 p.m. May 4 at Twaalfskill Golf Club to benefit the league's Kinderland II project, the planned rebuilding of the Kingston Kinderland playground at Forsyth Park.

Tickets are $75 per person and $140 per couple, which includes an open bar and dinner with a Southern flair.

WINDHAM, N.Y. -- The Catskill Watershed Corp. will conduct a free class on septic system operation and maintenance on May 3.

"Your Septic System: What Every Homeowner Should Know" will be start at 2 p.m. at the Windham wastewater treatment plant at the intersection of state Route 23 and South Street. A tour of the treatment plant will follow for people interested in learning how the municipal system operates.

A free water-saving kit will be provided for each household attending.

Preregistration is not required.

Trunk sale to be held in Catskill

CATSKILL, N.Y. -- A trunk sale will be held May 4 in the parking lot at the corner of Bridge and Water streets in the village.

The event will be held rain or shine from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vendors will park their cars and open their trunks to display their wares.

The cost to participate is $5 per car or $10 per van or pickup, cash only.

The event is being presented by Cultivate Catskill to benefit America in Bloom.

For more information call Shelly Pulver at (518) 653-1381.

Other trunk sales will be held June 1, July 6, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7.

Fresh water topic of May 16 talk

BEACON, N.Y. -- The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, a subsidiary of Clarkson University, will present author and journalist Alex Prud'homme at 7 p.m. May 16 at the institute's Center for Environmental Innovation and Education, 199 Dennings Ave.

Prud'homme will discuss his investigation of fresh-water issues for his book "The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century."